Article pickup and delivery apparatus



Feb. Z5, 1941. R. R. MA`TEE 2233.023

ARTICLE PICKUP AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Inventor y -ByvQunwwR-y @Mgm- Attorneys 5 Feb. 25, 1941.

R. R. MGATEE ARTICLEPIGKUP AND DELIVERY APPAm'rUs Filed Aug. 2, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 jzwsd/ faq/:197m

A itbmeys Feb. 25, 1941.- R, R WATEE 2,233,023

ARTICLE PICKUP AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed Aug.` 2, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventor Patented Feb. 25, 1941 UNITED. STATES PATENT ori-ICE 1 ARTICLE PICKUP AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Russell R. McAtee, Joliet, Ill. Application August 2, 1937, Serial No. 156,908

3 Claims.

The present apparatus relates to the pickup and delivery `of mail, parcels, baggage and other articles to and from a moving vehicle, airplane or the like, and has for its primary object to provide a combined receiving anddelivering carrier which is attached to the vehicle and adapted toautomatically deliver 4the package or article to a receiving apparatus on the ground and to fl' subsequently pick upanother article o-r package from the same receiving apparatus.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a combined carrier of this character adapted for movement into and `out of position through an openingin the moving vehicle for the pickup and delivery rof the article when the carrier is positioned outwardly `of the vehicle and to provide means for moving the carrier into the `vehicle in order to `conveniently place the package or article thereon or to disengage the picked up article` therefrom. y p v p A still further object is to provide an apparatus of this character of simple and practical construction, which is eiiicient and reliable in performance, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevational View of the combined pickup and receiving carrier with parts of the airplane or other vehicle broken away and shown in section.

Figure 2 is a top plan View.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the releasing mechanism.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of a modified form of releasing mechanism.

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of a. modified construction of the supporting arms for the carrier, and

Figure 6 is a rear elevational view of the carrler.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the numeral 5 designates the carrier generally,A which includes a plate 6 to the under side of which the casting 'I is formed.

Formed on the bottom edge of the casting is a hook member 8 which opens in a forward direction and has a pivoted catch 9 arranged to swing inwardly of the hook and to have its free end (Cl.y 258-1) .engage the end of the hook to `close the hook after an article has been engaged thereby.

At the rear end of the casting is formed the releasing mechanism designated generally at I0 which includes the top .member I I which is in- 5 tegral with the casting andthe bottom member I2 which is pivoted at its forward end to the casting and having a free `end releasably held upwardly against the upper member II by a bolt i3. The upper member II is formed with a ver- 10 tically extending opening I4 through which the bolt extends and the free end of the pivoted member I2 is formed with a longitudinally extending slot I5 extending through the end of the member and through which the bolt I3 also ex- 15 tends, the bottom of the bolt being formed with a cross-head I6, adapted when positioned cross- Wise of the slot I5, to retain the pivoted member I2 in an upward position against the member The bolt I 3 is formed with a shoulder I1 against which an expansible coiled spring I8 is adapted to abut to yieldably urge the bolt in an upward position to prevent idle rotation thereof. The upper end of the bolt I3 is formed with a laterally projecting arm I9.

The top of'the plate 6 is formed at its forward edge with a block to which a rod 2l is pivotally connected at one end, the other end of the rod being pivoted as at 22 to the bottom v23 of a fuselage or cabin of an airplane provided with an opening 24. A link connects the rod 2| with the block 20 of the carriage. To the rear of the plate 6 is provided a pair of upstanding lugs 23 to which is attached a cable 21 leading upwardly into the airplane through the opening 24 for connection to a suitable hoisting mechanism (not shown) whereby the carriage maybe raised upwardly and lowered into and out of the opening 24. When the carriage is raised upwardly into the opening the pivoted connection at its forward end will permit the carriage to be inverted into the position as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1 of the drawings.

The opposed faces of the members I I and I2 are formed with a recess 28 substantially pearshaped in cross section and adapted to receive a correspondingly shaped lug 29 pivoted on a ring 30 from which a mail-bag 3|, or other article, may be suspended.

Projecting outwardly from opposite sides of the plate 6 is a pair of" spaced parallel arms 32 on which rollers 33 are journalled, the rollers being adapted to ride upon a pair of spaced guides (not shown) of a suitable receiving apparatus.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figure 5 the guide arms and rollers 32 and 33 are dispensed with and in lieu thereof a pair of spaced parallel bars 34 are provided which project outwardly from one side of sockets 35 for supporting the carrier in a position outwardly from the side of a railway mail car or the like. 'I'he bars 34 are secured in adjusted position in the sockets by set screws 36.

In the operation of the device the receiving mechanism, which is positioned on the ground, is provided with an upstanding pin (not shown) raised in the path of the arm I9 so that upon engagement therewith the bolt I3 will be rotated, moving the cross-head I5 longitudinally with respect to the slot I5 whereby to permit the pivoted member I2 to drop downwardly, thus releasing the mail bag or other article from the.

carrier.

In the modif-led form of the invention illustrated in Figure 4 of Ythe drawings, the bolt I3 is provided adjacent its upper end with a gear 31 with which a gear segment 38 is engaged, one edge of the gear segment projecting outwardly laterally from the carrier into a position to operate the bolt in the same manner as that heretofore explained.

It is believed the details of construction and manner of operation of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing without further detailed explanation.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. In an article delivery and pick-up apparatus, a carrier attached to a moving machine, an article pick-up member at the front end of the carrier, an article delivery mechanism at the. rear end of the carrier and including a latch device normally holding the article in the delivery mechanism and operable upon contact with an object in the path of the delivery mechanism to release ther latch, said latch device comprising an article supporting member pivoted at its forward end to the carrier, said member having a slot in its rear end, a vertical shaft rotatably carried at the rear end of the carrier and having a T-head at its lower end, said shaft being projected through the slot with the T-head crosswise thereof to secure the member in closed position and a trip arm carried by the shaft for rotating the same to release the member therefrom.

2. In an article delivery and pick-up apparatus, a carrier attached to a moving machine, an article pick-up member at the front end of the carrier, an article delivery mechanism at the rear end of the carrier and including a latch device normally holding the article in the delivery mechanism and operable upon contact with an object in the path of the delivery mechanism to release the latch, said latch device comprising an article supporting member pivoted at its forward end to the carrier, said member having a slot in its rear end, a vertical shaft rotatably carried at the rear end of the carrier and having a T-head at its lower end, said shaft being projected through the slot with the T-head crosswise thereof to secure the member in closed position and a trip arm carried by the shaft for rotating the same to release the member therefrom and transversely extending guide contacting, supporting arms projecting from opposite sides of the carrier.

3. In an article delivery and pickup apparatus, a moving machine having an opening therein, an article carrier movable into and out of said opening, means pivotally connecting the forwardv end of the carrier to the outside of the machine and adapted to support the carrier in a suspended position and hoisting means extending through the opening and attached to the rear end of the carrier, said hoisting means and suspension means cooperating to invert the carrier into a position forwardly of the opening during its movement through the opening.

RUSSELL R. McATEE. 

